What is marital status?
Marital status refers to the lawful recognition of the agreement between a man and a woman to be husband and wife. Along with the legal marital status of being married, the husband and wife acquire rights and obligations to their respective spouses. The rights and obligations begin when the couple is married and may continue, to a certain extent, even after the termination of the marriage.
Marital status is one of the basic issues involved in a lawsuit for divorce (marital dissolution) or an annulment (nullity). At the end of a marital dissolution or nullity proceeding, the legal status of husband and wife is terminated and the spouses are returned to the legal status of being unmarried or single persons.
Marital status is automatically terminated upon the death of one spouse; the survivor becomes an unmarried person once again.
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Can a couple become legally married by living together as man and wife under mississippi’s laws?
No
However a couple legally married at common law in another state is regarded as married in all states.
How can I obtain a tax deduction for a support payment?
In order for a support payment (other than any child support payment) to be eligible for an income tax deduction by the payer spouse, the following requirements must be met:
(1) The payment must be made in cash (including checks and money orders payable on demand, but excluding transfers of services or property)
(2) The payment must be made under either
(a) a divorce or separation instrument (a court order or decree of divorce or separation or a written instrument incident to such a decree or a decree which requires a spouse to make payments for the support or maintenance of the other spouse), or
(b) a written separation agreement between a husband and wife who are living apart requiring periodic payments because of the marital or family relationship (whether or not the agreement is a legally enforceable instrument)
(3) The spouses do not file a joint income tax return
(4) The written instrument or agreement does not provide for other tax treatment, and
(5) The payer has no liability to continue to make payment after the death of the other spouse.
Any child support included as part of an alimony, family support, separate maintenance or spousal support payment is not eligible for a deduction by the payer and is not taxable income to the supported spouse according to Federal income tax rules.
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What is ‘legal separation?’
Legal separation is a formal judgment issued by a court of law that all the issues concerning a marriage have been resolved (child custody, child visitation, child support, spousal support, distribution of property, attorney fees, and personal conduct) with the exception of marital status. A judgment of a legal separation lawsuit leaves the couple with the legal status of married persons while settling the respective rights and obligations that each spouse has to the other. Spouses who are legally separated are not free to marry since neither has been returned to the legal status of an unmarried (single) person.
Legal separation is usually pursued when the parties want to stay married for religious reasons, want the advantage of deductability of spousal support payments for income tax reasons, or are do not want to wait the state statutory waiting period for termination of marital status. For some people, a legal separation is desired to set the parameters for dealing with one another while living separate and apart (especially with respect to continuing support obligations and child sharing issues) while maintaining the status of being married, and leaving the door open for a reunion/resumption of marriage.
Legal separation is not a prerequisite to divorce
Can a court order payment of support during the marriage?
Depending upon state law, one spouse may be ordered to pay support to the other spouse. One spouse may bring a lawsuit against the other spouse for his/her failure to provide support. In addition, if a county furnishes support to a spouse, the county may seek a court order to obtain reimbursement for support furnished, continuing support and attorney fees incurred in the action.
Can a court order spousal support before court date ?
Depending upon state law, one spouse may be ordered to pay support to the other spouse. One spouse may bring a lawsuit against the other spouse for his/her failure to provide support. In addition, if a county furnishes support to a spouse, the county may seek a court order to obtain reimbursement for support furnished, continuing support and attorney fees incurred in the action.
What is the difference between a ‘fault’ and a ‘no fault’ divorce?
Some states allow termination of marital status on both a basis of fault and alternatively on the basis of no fault. Grounds for fault include adultery, physical or mental cruelty, desertion, alcohol or drug abuse, insanity, impotence or infecting the other spouse with a venereal disease. The respective rights to distribution of property and spousal support can be affected by a spouse's fault in causing the breakdown of the marriage in some states.
In a no fault dissolution of marriage, a declaration by one spouse of the marriage that irreconcilable differences have arisen that neither time nor counseling will cure is sufficient grounds for a court to terminate the marriage and return the former spouses to the legal status of unmarried (single) persons. In a no fault divorce or dissolution of marriage, the actions of the respective spouses in the breakdown of the marriage does not affect property distribution or spousal support rights.
Mississippi is an option state.
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How long will a spouse have to pay (or be able to receive) alimony?
Depending on the particular circumstances, alimony is ordered to be paid during the time period that the supported spouse is seeking education, training, and marketable job skills in order to establish a career or otherwise become self-supportive. Consideration of the responsibility for providing child care during the early years of a minor child factors into this determination.
If the supported spouse is of advanced age or suffers from a medical problem which would prevent this spouse from obtaining a career (thus preventing him/her from becoming self-supportive), alimony could be "permanent" (but subject to future modification based upon a material change in circumstances).
If there was a long term marriage (in California, for example, a marriage of ten years or longer is considered a long term marriage), a court may have continuing jurisdiction over the issue of spousal support. With continuing jurisdiction, a court may change the amount or duration of alimony payments from one spouse to the other any time in the future (although a material change in circumstances is usually necessary).In addition, typically a court order for alimony terminates upon the death or remarriage of the supported spouse.
I have taped some very abusive and harassing telephone conversations my , but am told that we cannot use these tapes in the court. Why?
Surreptitious tape recordings by telephone are illegal in most States, under their respective Penal (or Criminal) Codes. You must have permission, in most States, from the party being recorded or, at the very least, give the other person notice that the call is being recorded.
Can an ex-fiance go to court to get the ring back?
Whether you have to return a wedding ring if the wedding is called off depends on where you live and under what circumstances the ring came into your possession. It may also depend on who broke the engagement.
In the convoluted world of domestic relations, perhaps nothing is more confusing than the so-called "heart balm" statutes that were made the law in each of the various states, and then abolished more than a half century ago to be replaced with a hodgepodge of custom and modernity.
For the past 30 years, at least in New York, persons not under any impediment to marry have had the right to recover property given in contemplation of a marriage that didn't occur.
But in California, the courts have long called the gift of an engagement ring "implied conditional," and require its return on the breaking of the engagement by the recipient of the gift. However, if the man breaks the engagement, he cannot obtain the ring.
Engagement rings differ from other rings or jewelry in a number of states, which clearly are gifts that have no relationship to a marriage. And, if the relationship breaks up and the man wants it back, he must be prepared to lose the argument and to have no legal redress.
Other typical engagement gifts that are given by the intended to the beloved are treated the same way as state law treats the engagement ring.
When a marriage breaks up, there is a divorce, and the laws of all 50 states are geared to deal with it. An engagement breakup is less typical, and causes more headaches precisely because the parties frequently have no agreement that defines their rights.
There are a number of cases in which a married man, awaiting dissolution of a prior marriage, has become involved with a prospect for the position soon to be opening up, and gives an "engagement" ring to seal the transaction. If the relationship sours, the man cannot obtain the ring back since he lacked the legal right to enter the contract in the first place--because he was still married.
It's not the "right" emotional way to begin a marriage or an engagement, but if there is a valuable heirloom that you are planning to give your beloved, you may want to obtain a prenuptial agreement in which the disposition of this or other property is made clear should the marriage or the engagement sour, or if there is a problem in the short term following the marriage.
A prenuptial agreement is something that every contemporary couple planning to marry ought to carefully consider. It outlines certain rights, creates certain liabilities, but most important, sets forth what each party entering into matrimony expects of the other. It may sound callous, and may not be for everyone, but if the assets of the parties are sufficient, it is in the interest of both to do so while their heads are clear, and before the parties plan a life together.
If the assets aren't substantial, but the issues are the same, the parties can draw up a letter of agreement on their own: "We agree that in the event that the marriage does not take place that the following is the disposition of gifts received, including the engagement ring."
